News

Nelsonville-York City Schools Closer To Opening Gym To Community

Officials at the Nelsonville-York City School District say they’ve addressed the security concerns with the district’s fitness center. Once the administration finds the personnel to oversee the gym, the board expects to vote on reopening it to the community at the August board meeting.

The person who will oversee the gym will be an existing district employee, explained Supt. Mick McClelland.

Board member Tim Maiden, who serves on a committee to address the concerns with the fitness room, said the hours may change to 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., slightly shorter than before. School board members also discussed limiting access to the facility to normal school days. During holidays and seasonal breaks, it would be closed.

As previously reported, the fitness room, which first opened to the public in 2010, had been made available to community members who live in the district from 4:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. That changed in January, when the school decided to restrict access for anyone who wasn’t a student or staff member.

The decision to close the room to community members stemmed from several issues, mostly involving the doors.

Community members access the gym through a separate entrance using an assigned key card. School officials learned the door to the facility was frequently propped open. This created an opportunity for individuals who didn’t live within the district to use the facility. Users are also required to sign a liability form before using the gym, and with the door being open, the school had no way of controlling who came and went.

More importantly, board members had said, was for the school to address the inner door, which provided anyone in the gym access to the rest of the school building. Simply locking that door or surrounding doors violated fire codes, Supt. Mick McClelland had said.

To address the inner door problem, the school recently installed a gate that blocks off access to the rest of the school and had it approved by the fire marshal.

The committee will present the board with an official proposal at the August board meeting.